P&P Spotlight: Ryan Steven

While many people make art solely to be seen or heard, Ryan Steven does so to unleash the emotions we tend to bury. From picking up a guitar at 13 out of his love for 90s rock, to performing in local venues, to releasing his debut single “Yours,” Ryan approaches his music with an intensity that shows up in everything he creates. The Fresno-born and LA-based singer-songwriter His next single “Fractured” - which was written before his move to LA and fully produced after it - is his most vulnerable work yet, blending intimate folk songwriting with a fuller, more developed sound, hinting at his future artistic direction. Quickly following that feat with another single, “Always Be You,” he’s just getting started. 

Recently, we had the privilege of sitting down with Ryan Steven to talk about the stories behind his music, what his move to LA has meant for his artistry, and where he’s headed next. Keep reading for our full conversation with him!

Image credit: Ryan Steven, graphic created by Karly Ramnani

YOU'LL LOVE RYAN STEVEN IF YOU LISTEN TO: Noah Kahan, The Lumineers, Hozier, Lizzy McAlpine, Role Model, Conan Gray, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Stone Temple Pilots, Jack Johnson

What music did you listen to growing up, and who’s on your playlist today? How do these names shape the artist you are today? 

 Honestly, the music I release now isn't super reflective of what I listened to growing up. A lot of it was classic rock, and 90s alternative - mostly in the car with my dad. That’s where I really developed my love for music, and it pushed me toward guitar because I grew up hearing guitar-forward songs.When I started actually making music, I got into John Mayer because it was always just me and the instrument - no band, nothing else. In high school, I listened to a lot of Jack Johnson, and then I discovered Lizzy McAlpine and got into the indie folk world.  

My playlist still has a lot of influences, but my favorite band is Stone Temple Pilots. If I had to listen to one genre in the car for the rest of my life, it would be alternative rock. I don’t want to spoil too much, but now that I’m in LA and have played with other musicians, my sound is starting to shift in that direction - while still holding onto the folk sensibility I’ve always had.

You've described "Fractured" as your most vulnerable song to date — how has music helped you process difficult emotions? What do you hope listeners take away from the song?

People always ask me why I don't write happy music. The thing is, I have no problem expressing happiness in my daily life — but I'm not great at showing those harder emotions, so they naturally find their way into my music. It becomes the outlet for the things I don't put on display.

With "Fractured," I just want people to connect to it in whatever way they need. The song means something specific to me, but if a listener hears it and it helps them process something completely different, that's just as meaningful. It's that balance:  how do you make something deeply personal but still approachable enough that it resonates broadly?

How did moving to LA between the process of writing and recording “Fractured” shape the song? 

 I had written the bulk of the song before the move - it was essentially done by the time I left. But it was just voice and guitar at that point. I wrote it in July and didn’t end up recording and releasing it in January, so I had a long time to sit with it. Once I got to LA, I met people who were able to put their touch on the production - string arrangements, things I would never have thought of on my own. I’m not a producer by any means, so the final product has a lot of hands on it in terms of ideas and execution. The songwriting was entirely mine, but the production became a real collaboration.   

Recording "Yours" took three intense 12-hour days in a professional studio, while "Fractured" was done incrementally over a few weeks at a friend's house — how did that difference in process affect the final result? 

 I don't think one approach is better than the other: they just offer different things. In a studio with a hard deadline, you have to be decisive. You make your choices and you're done. Recording at a friend's house over time lets me live with the song, which is valuable — but having more time can also lead to overthinking. For a song this emotional, I think it was actually good to have space to breathe and let ideas develop naturally. No hard deadline is both a blessing and a curse.

If I had to pick, I prefer having a little more time. But to put it in perspective — when we recorded "Yours," the arrangement wasn't even fully worked out yet. We spent the first day reworking the structure. With "Fractured," the song was completely written going in, so it's hard to compare directly.

Image credit: Ryan Steven

You’ve shared that “Fractured” provided you with several opportunities once it came out. Tell us more about what doors this song has opened for you, and how that’s impacted your overall journey! 

Yea, it gave me credibility. There was about a year and a half between “Yours” and “Fractured” –  not because I put music on the back burner, but because I was performing a lot and really working on my craft as a songwriter. When “Fractured” came out, it became a refresher for people who hadn’t heard from me in a while, and the response was really gratifying. There was a lot of sharing, and that momentum matters - it gives you credibility to perform at a new venue, reach out to a producer, or get in the room with other writers. Even this conversation is an opportunity that this song opened up for me.  

Being in LA puts you in proximity to so many possibilities on its own, so I’m careful not to credit everything to one song. But "Fractured" gave me something real to hand people, and that makes all the difference. 

What inspired “Always Be You,” and how does it connect to where you were emotionally when you wrote it?

I wrote it about a past relationship: it was a decent while after we had split. Writing has always helped me process things, but I was getting to the point where I didn't really want to keep writing songs about this person anymore. So it was kind of like, how do I write something that puts a bow on that chapter in my life? That was the intent going into it:  to write something I feel happy with, but that also lets me take a step forward and move on from that part of my life.

"Fractured" and "Always Be You" are both ballads, but they're pretty different from each other. "Fractured" is guitar-driven and "Always Be You" is piano-driven, which was something new for me musically. But I think lyrically, "Always Be You" is really the response to "Fractured." Like if "Fractured" is the moment you're in the middle of everything, "Always Be You" is where the story lands after the dust settles. It felt important to have that — to write something that acknowledges where I started and shows where I ended up. So as much as it's about closing a door, it also felt like the natural conclusion to something I had already begun saying with "Fractured."

After "Always Be You," you've mentioned wanting to move away from ballads and widen your sound — what's driving that shift, and what can fans expect? 

I've always had an affinity for the alt-rock, guitar-driven music but I never had the pieces. I've always loved that kind of music, it's been my favorite, and it's not to say that I don't love the ballad folk stuff — I really enjoy that intimacy and I want to keep that quality consistent even as the sound gets bigger. But it was just the fact that I now have the opportunities I didn't have before. I couldn't go write music that couldn't be sustained by just my voice and a guitar. So now I use this analogy of a painter's palette — before, I only had two colors: acoustic guitar and voice. But now I have people who can play drums and bass and bring a full band sound. So I would say the pictures are going to stay honest, but they're going to have more color because that color is now available to me.

What do you love most about playing live shows in LA? Do you have a favorite song to perform live? 

I actually had a gig just last night, and I played an original that I haven't even announced yet. The live performance is up if you look for it, but it's not recorded or ready to officially put out there. But that's kind of what I love most about playing live,  it's just the energy. When you get a decent amount of people in a room who all have a genuine love for music, and then you get to share what you love with them, it's kind of an unmatched feeling. There's nothing really like it.

The song I've been having the most fun performing lately is one called "Sweet." It got a really good reaction, and it's definitely more in the vein of the alt-rock sound I'm moving toward. I don't want to make it sound like I'm abandoning what I've done — I think it's more that I'm expanding. But "Sweet" is by far my favorite thing to play live right now, at least at this point. It's been exciting to see how people respond to that side of my sound, because it's a little different from what they've heard from me before, and the reaction has made me feel really good about where things are headed.

Image credit: Ryan Steven

You've talked about having a lot of songs in the works that will bring you closer to the artist you truly want to be — where do you feel you are in that journey right now?

I'm still developing my sound — figuring out what checks all the musical boxes I want while still feeling like me, and while still being something people actually want to listen to. I'm not afraid to admit that. But it's funny, because when I first started making music, I was only thinking about complexity. How can I make something intricate? How can I make something technically interesting? That was before I had even written "Yours." I loved John Mayer's arrangements  because they're so harmonically rich, and I was trying to do that before I was actually at a place where I could pull it off tastefully. It just wasn't there yet.

So then I swung all the way to the other side. I started asking, how can I strip this down enough that people actually want to listen? How do I make something simple and approachable? And now I feel like I've landed somewhere in the middle: how can I make something that gives me real musical fulfillment, but that the general listener can also connect to and enjoy?

I write these songs for myself first. That's always going to be true. But I release them because I genuinely believe that some of what I have to say is relatable, and the more people who can hear it, the bigger the impact I can have. That's the goal — or at least, that's how I think about it. I can only speak for myself, but when you put music out into the world, it's because you believe someone else needs to hear it too.

You’ve shared that you’re also an avid sports fan! Have there ever been times when watching or playing sports has inspired your music, or shaped your work ethic and creative process? 

I grew up playing sports way before I ever picked up a guitar, so in a lot of ways, that foundation came first. I think a huge part of my work ethic comes directly from that experience. When you're an athlete, especially at a competitive level, you develop this drive to keep showing up — to practice even when you're not feeling it, to push through the parts that aren't fun. I played softball all the way through my sophomore year of college, which is a serious commitment. It's not just time, it's the mental side of it too. You learn to stick with something even when it's not going the way you hoped, and I think that translates directly into making music. There are days in the studio or at your desk where nothing is clicking, and that athletic mindset — just keep going, just put the work in — is what gets you through it.

And then as a sports fan, what I love most is the unpredictability of it all. Any team can go on a run. Any player can have a breakout moment that nobody saw coming. That's what makes it so compelling to watch, and honestly, I connect that to my own story in music all the time. Why not me? Why can't I be the person who comes out of nowhere and does something that surprises people? You see those stories in sports constantly — the underdog, the late bloomer, the person who just wouldn't quit — and it genuinely motivates me. I think those two worlds go hand in hand more than people might expect. They're both about putting in the work when no one's watching and believing something can happen before you have any real proof that it will.

And finally, the P&P classic! What is your favorite lyric from “Fractured,” “Yours,” or “Always Be You”? What was going through your head as you wrote it, and how does it speak to you personally?

It's hard not to have recency bias here, but the opening of "Always Be You" really sticks with me: "Push and pull like a drug to me." The full verse goes: "Push and pull like a drug to me, baby I'm obsessed, makes me want you effortlessly and forge the rest." Something about that first line just hits.

Funnily enough, I have no personal experience with drugs. But my family was watching a documentary about addiction, and hearing them talk about that pull — being drawn to something that holds you back — that's where it came from. A relationship that felt magnetic even when it wasn't good for you. I didn't need to live the experience to understand the feeling, and that's what made it click.

---

Ryan Steven isn't afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve and take risks as he develops his sound. Based on discography and live performances thus far, he's a true gem in the indie folk scene — we'll surely keep our eyes on him in the coming years. We can’t wait to see what he does next, and in the meantime, we'll have “Fractured,” "Yours," and “Always Be You” on repeat. Here’s a playlist we’ve curated to capture his vibe!